Tuberculosis (TB) diagnoses have risen year on- year for the first time in two decades, a World Health Organisation (WHO) report has found.
The global health agency reported that 10.6 million people were confirmed to have tuberculosis (TB) in 2021, an increase of 4.5 percent from the year the previous year.
The increase – which coincides with the rise of a drug-resistant strain of the infection – reverses years of decline between 2005 and 2019.
Approximately 1.6 million people worldwide died of tuberculosis in 2021, up from 1.5 million in 2020 and 1.4 million in 2019, and back to the level of 2017.
The WHO said about 450,000 cases involved people infected with antibiotic-resistant TB, three percent more than in 2020. The resurgence of TB in 2021 is believed to be the result of fewer cases being diagnosed in 2020 during Covid-19 lockdowns and hospital restrictions.
The pandemic ‘continues to have a damaging impact on access to TB diagnosis and treatment,’ the report said. ‘Progress made in the years up to 2019 has slowed, stalled, or reversed, and global TB targets are off track,’ it added.
With fewer people being diagnosed with the highly infectious disease in 2020, more of them may have unknowingly spread it to other people, the WHO warned.
Officials added that the downturn in the global economy was also a factor, saying that about half of all TB patients and their families face ‘catastrophic total costs due to their treatment.
After COVID-19, TB is the world’s deadliest infectious disease. It is caused by bacteria that attack the lungs though TB can also affect other parts of your body, including the kidneys, spine, or brain.
The bacteria that cause TB are spread from person to person through tiny droplets in the air released in coughs and sneezes.